Day Three

Last nite we stayed at Toogoom (tooggum). We ended up her because David was driving in the dark and this was a place that was mentioned north of Dundowran beach to stay at without being told to move on.

We made dinner and then went down to the pub. Yes, there was a restaurant/bar - Goodys on the beach. As we drove in, on the north end of Toogoom, we thought this was a tiny settlement and couldn't believe there'd be enough to sustain a bar & a cafe called The Salty Squid. In NZ a nip is 15mls, so whenever we order spirits we order a double. We went into Goodys and ordered a double whiskey and a double rum and coke and the bar maid said that would be $19.80. We nearly fell over, but as we tasted it we realised it was incredibly strong. The aussie nip, bless 'em is 30ml! So the price for a single would've been cheaper than NZ at $4.50.

Upon rising after listening to the dawn chorus and watching the sun rise,(kookaburras, rosellas, magpies - alll taking turns to sing). we walked along the beach. Like a deserted island paradise, apart from the tide being out, and enjoyed the morning sun and greeted some locals coffee-ing at the end of their garden. We walked back along Kingfisher Pde and back to the camper for brecky.
We drove around and realised this is a large booming new estate, and Dave fell in love with it. It's nice, and about 10 minutes from town but I'm not sure the older kids would enjoy the lack of entertainment.(town things but ours rarely leave the TV, playstation or computer. However, it offers cheapish housing, a safe beach and off road fun if you want it.(dirt biking for Elliot, 4wd for Dad, Jet ski for Adam and Swimming and water for all)

Today we explored Hervey Bay. It was cool this morning, but once the sun was up it was around 20 degrees (9.30am) and felt more because there was no breeze. We walked the Urangan pier which is around 860 metres long.



There were loads of people and families fishing. We met Jim (retired at 50) and his son Harry. They moved to HB four years ago from Victoria and absolutely love the all year outdoor living.
Jim has caught a 64kg shark at the end of the pier and there are a couple of gropers that weigh in at 600kg but you are not allowed to keep them, let alone get them on to the pier.

Some of the locals have good balancing skills and can swim well.


Some of Queensland is a bit behind with providing internet access, so we spent a couple of hours in HB downloading our log. Sadly, we were a bit late to ride bikes along the esplanade as we planned, but we took a drive through some suburbs.

We visited Point Vernon, as there's a cheap new estate going up, which we saw online. It didn't quite measure up to expectations, although the right hand side of the point is OK. Somehow, we hadn't realised there was rock all the way round. The houses for sale were mostly on very small sections, although there were a few larger ones available, but they seemed all crammed in and didn't appeal. A bunch of kangaroos came down to the office. Somehow I hadn't expected kangaroos on the point, but there are loads and they hop down the street in the morning.

We liked parts of Eli Waters and viewed some amazing properties at the back of Wondunna. Dave, as a builder, is gobsmacked at what you can get for your money in HB. The houses are fantastic size and quality compared to NZ.

Eventually we got sick of looking at houses and it was getting late so we went to find a camp. I'd heard that the fruit bats now live in the Botanical gardens, so chose a camp close by. While cooking dinner I could hear the din from the gardens and I thought they must stay over the gardens and we wouldn't see them, but just as it was getting dark they filled the sky, screeching and flitting over each other, and disappearing into the sunset like Dracula's children on a feeding expedition. Go Van Helsing...

Tomorrow is another day.